UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  01561  0512 


g  'ilt*0  'uo^jojg 

JH0NI8  131Hd|tfvT 
■  P-toi 


V*°5 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

Baccalaureate  Address 

to  the 

Graduating-  Class 

New  Mexico  Normal  University 

by 

EDGAR  L.  HEWETT 

Director  of  the  School  of  American  Research 

Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico 


New    Mexican    Publishing    Corporation 
Santa   Fe,    New   Mexico 


WD 

THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

Baccalaureate  Address  to  the  Class  of  1919 
New  Mexico  Normal  University 


"Give   me   now  wisdom   and    knowledge." 

Members  of  the  Graduating  Class: 

Twenty  years  ago  upon  this  platform  I  com- 
menced a  cycle  of  baccalaureate  addresses 
which  continued  over  five  successive  graduat- 
ing seasons.  It  is  with  no  illusions  as  to  the 
continuing  value  of  these  that  I  have  given  each 
of  you  a  copy  of  them.  Little  that  was  written 
on  education  twenty  years  ago  is  worth  reading 
now.  That  was  a  time  of  great  unrest  in  edu- 
cational science.  An  old  order  was  passing 
and  prophets  of  the  new  day  were  beyond  their 
depths. 

Education  has,  in  twenty  years,  made  ad- 
vances comparable  to  those  of  surgery,  pre- 
ventive medicine,  engineering,  transportation, 
and  government.  So  do  not  look  in  those  lect- 
ures for  up-to-date  pedagogical  thought.  They 
had  a  certain  inspirational  value  in  their  time, 
and  of  that  they  may  not  be  devoid  even  now. 
They  reflect  the  attitude  of  mind  of  a  young 
executive  in  a  new  and  stimulating  communi- 
ty, surrounded  by  a  youthful  and  inspiring  fac- 
ulty and  student  body,  acting  and  re-acting  in 
a  finely  responsive  way  upon  one  another's 
minds  and  characters. 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

Those  were  the  original  factors  in  this, 
school  —  community,  faculty,  students  —  the 
same  factors  that  compose  it  today.  We  met 
here  twenty  years  ago  to  found  an  educational 
institution.  A  part  of  the  program  fell  to  me, 
and  the  way  in  which  I  did  my  part  was  deter- 
mined vitally  by  the  influence  of  the  ripened 
characters  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to 
sit  in  council;  the  comradeship  of  young  and 
eager  associates  on  the  faculty  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  youthful  minds  that  were  here  as  stu- 
dents. These  lectures  then,  express,  I  am  sure, 
a  united  effort  and  not  solely  my  individual 
thought. 

Whatever  of  value  they  now  have  lies  in  the 
extent  to  which  the  ideals  therein  upheld  have 
been  found  worthy  to  enter  into  the  permanent 
structure  of  this  institution.  If  those  ideals  are 
gone,  then  it  is  because  they  were  not  worthy 
ideals  or  else  this  Normal  University  has  gone 
wrong.  If  its  ideals  were  right  and  this  school 
has  grown  aright,  then  they  rest  as  perpetual 
foundation  stones.  It  is  only  for  this  that  I 
have  had  printed  for  the  graduates  of  the  Nor- 
mal University  these  thoughts  of  the  past — 
that  they  may  know  more  of  the  spirit  of  their 
institution,  may  know  and  measure  its  ideals. 
For  this  is  your  school.  You  should  know  its 
history  from  the  foundation  up.  You,  the  grad- 
uates, are  the  ones  who  will  carry  its  spirit  out 
to  the  people  of  the  state. 

As  I  read  these  talks  over  again,  for  the  first 
time  in  years,  I  reach  some  conclusions  about 

6 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

them  which  may  be  worth  stating ;  namely,  that 
they  assert  from  beginning  to  end  that  life 
must  have  a  spiritual  basis.  They  uphold  sci- 
ence and  literature  and  art  in  education  but 
emphasize  them  particularly  for  their  value  in 
spiritual  development,  and  make  religion  the 
corner  stone  in  educational  foundations.  They 
support  the  principle  that  freedom  is  the  su- 
preme attainment  through  education.  They 
constitute  an  effort  to  find  and  express  the 
aim  of  all  study,  the  purpose  of  institutions  of 
learning.  That  is,  obviously,  an  object  that 
calls  for  frequent  re-investigation. 

So  I  come  back  after  these  years  to  try  again 
to  state  what  is  the  student's  goal.  I  hardly 
think  any  other  theme  worth  talking  about  on 
Baccalaureate  Sunday.  You  will  perhaps  com- 
pare this  with  the  former  efforts  and  your 
conclusions  will  be  valuable,  for  you  are  of  the 
maturer  time ;  your  existence  has  been  entirely 
in  the  riper  years  of  the  world.  To  the  wisdom 
of  that  day  has  been  added  the  experience  of 
the  greatest  years  in  history  and  you  are  now 
at  the  threshold  of  still  greater  times,  of  yet 
larger  responsibilities.  The  years  ahead  are 
yours,  what  is  your  goal? 

A  great  conflict  is  just  finished.  As  it  pass- 
es into  history,  we  realize  that  we  have  been 
participants  in  events  so  stupendous  that  the 
mind  can  not  yet  grasp  their  meaning.  Words 
fail  to  express  even  the  little  that  is  under- 
stood. We  have  seen  in  these  crowded  years 
nations  in  their  birth,  nations  in  their  death 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

throes,  and  nations  in  their  resurrection.  To 
have  seen  as  much  in  any  former  time,  we 
should  have  had  to  live  a  millennium.  The  fall 
of  ancient  dynasties  from  their  pinnacles  of 
power  and  glory  and  the  rise  of  new  men  from 
the  soil  to  take  up  the  scepters  of  leadership 
have  become  familiar  occurrences.  Vast  ex- 
periments in  human  government  have  gone 
down  in  dismal  failure  after  centuries  of  trial. 
New  experiments,  originating  in  chaos,  have 
begun  the  age-long  struggle — to  what  end  only 
Omnipotence  can  tell. 

These  mighty  events  have  transpired  from 
day  to  day  before  our  eyes  to  the  accompany- 
ing crash  of  battles  heretofore  impossible.  Car- 
nage unspeakable  has  held  humanity  appalled- 
All  the  tragedies  of  by-gone  ages  rolled  togeth- 
er have  been  re-enacted  in  these  swift  years. 
Single  days  of  this  conflict  surpassed  in  slaught- 
er all  the  combats  of  the  Homeric  Age  and 
every  deed  of  valor  on  the  plains  of  ancient 
Troy  has  been  matched  on  the  battlefields  of 
Europe  by  our  own  and  our  neighbors'  sons. 
Through  ages  to  come  historians  will  be  gather- 
ing data,  recording  events,  and  interpreting 
episodes  of  these  great  years.  Libraries  on  the 
World  War  will  grow  to  enormous  proportions 
and  still  fail  to  adequately  chronicle  the  events 
of  these  times. 

It  requires  the  long  perspective  of  the  ages 
to  enable  us  to  interpret  such  times  and  events 
as  these  and  assign  them  to  their  proper  place 
in  the  evolution  of  civilization.    But  the  heart- 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

throbs  of  the  people  as  they  answered  the  sum- 
mons to  war  are  understood  by  those  who 
shared  them.  The  feelings  of  brave  sons  as 
they  tendered  their  lives  to  the  Nation  are 
known  to  those  who  looked  into  their  eyes  as 
they  marched  away.  But  this  is  past.  We  face 
the  great  days  of  peace.  We  look  out  over  ho- 
rizons that  embrace  a  myriad  of  new  problems, 
calling  for  clearer  vision,  appealing  for  vastly 
more  spiritual  power  in  all  of  us.  The  physical 
test  of  war  was  no  greater  than  will  be  the 
spiritual  test  of  peace. 

We  have  a  vast  inheritance  of  thought.  For 
ages  men  have  been  students  and  some  have  en- 
shrined their  thought  in  immortal  expressions. 
What  goal  have  the  greatest  men  set  for  them- 
selves; what  have  they  most  desired?  There 
was  one  of  old,  King  Solomon,  of  whom  our 
fathers  have  been  wont  to  speak  as  the  wisest 
man  of  all  time.  So,  naturally,  it  occurs  to  us 
to  inquire  what  he  considered  the  highest  good, 
for  we  are  told  that  to  him  was  put  the  problem 
by  the  Almighty  himself,  "Ask  what  I  shall 
give  thee."  Here  was  a  young  man  facing  a 
vast  undertaking  and  certain  things  such  as 
riches,  honor,  victory  over  his  enemies,  long 
life,  were  greatly  to  be  desired;  but  his  reply 
was  simply,  "give  me  now  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge." 

There  are  many  goals  to  strive  for  in  life ; 
many  worthy  purposes  on  which  to  fix  our 
minds.  When  the  great  ones  of  the  past  choose 
objectives  which  they  place  above  everything 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

else  under  the  sun,  they  must  be  worth  in- 
quiring into.  May  we  know  what  wisdom  is 
and  where  it  is  to  be  found?  Yes.  May  we  ac- 
quire if  in  school?  I  do  not  know.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  nothing  can  be  put  into  the  mind. 
Education  can  only  draw  out  or  develop  what 
is  there.  Knowledge  we  can  surely  gain  in 
school  and  in  daily  life ;  wisdom  is  not  so  easily 
accounted  for. 

The  ancient  Greeks  thought  much  on  this 
subject.  Athena  was  their  Goddess  of  "Wis- 
dom. Athena  was  born  full  panoplied  from 
the  brain  of  Zeus.  In  other  words,  wisdom  was 
conceived  to  be  of  divine  origin.  It  was  the 
offspring  of  Infinite  Mind.  Athens  was  the  city 
of  Athena ;  the  city  of  wisdom.  There  was  the 
temple  of  Athena  in  which  was  enshrined  the 
marvelous  statue  which  the  master,  Phidias, 
wrought  in  ivory  and  gold  as  an  expression  of 
the  beauty  and  majesty  of  wisdom,  which 
meant  so  much  to  the  Greek  that  it  had  to  be 
deified. 

The  citizen  of  Athens  was  a  devotee  of  wis- 
dom. His  life  was  an  aspiration  to  higher 
things,  to  do  more,  to  be  greater.  He  thought 
of  his  city  as  a  place  for  noble  -people  to  spend 
their  lives  in,  for  noble  ends.  This  was  wis- 
dom not  only  deified,  but  lived  in  every  day  af- 
fairs. In  their  sculptures  warriors  are  seen 
killing  the  centaurs,  loathsome  creatures,  half 
beast,  half  man — the  poetic  way  of  proclaim- 
ing the  victory  of  the  true  man  over  the  baser 
self.  Suppose  the  citizens  of  Las  Vegas  thought 

10 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

always,  "how  can  we  make  our  city  finer?  how 
can  we  beautify  it?  how  can  we  make  it  the 
loveliest  place  in  the  world?  how  can  we  make 
these  people  nobler?"  "Is  there  loathsome 
vice  here?  Then  let's  put  it  down,  let's  slay 
the  ugly,  brutal  thing,  so  that  our  young  men 
and  women  may  be  fairer,  and  the  city  that  we 
love  clean  and  fine."  Every  citizen  thinking  of 
his  city  as  a  place  for  noble  people  to  spend 
their  lives  in  for  noble  ends  and  shaping  his 
own  life  accordingly.  Would  this  not  soon  be 
the  modern  Athens?  "Would  not  people  come 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  see  and  live  in 
Las  Vegas?  Would  this  not  be  truly  a  city  of 
wisdom,  of  striving  to  do  more,  to  achieve  some- 
thing higher? 

This  represents  my  idea  of  wisdom — the  im- 
pulse to  the  higher  endeavor,  to  nobler  living — 
a  truly  divine  gift.  Possessing  it,  you  can 
never  rest  content  with  present  conditions ;  you 
must  do  more.  You  want  a  fairer  world;  you 
want  more  beauty  in  it ;  more  goodness  in  it, 
and  you  set  about  making  it  so.  You  create 
beauty  and  goodness  in  yourself,  in  others,  in 
the  world  about  you.  You  can  make  the  place 
where  you  live  vibrant  with  new  aspirations. 
Twenty  years  ago  this  spring  we  greeted  in 
this  city  a  young  warrior,  here  to  meet  his  regi- 
ment on  the  anniversary  of  its  baptism  of  fire 
in  Cuba.  A  few  weeks  ago  this  knight  without 
fear  and  without  reproach,  closed  his  eyes  upon 
a  world  that  he  had  electrified.  Twenty  years 
spanned  the  period  of  his  life  as  a  national  fig- 

11 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

ure.  In  that  time  he  thrilled  the  conscience  of 
his  countrymen.  He  set  a  mark  for  high  en- 
deavor that  moved  every  young  man  in  Ameri- 
ca to  action  when  the  great  days  came.  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  lived  every  day  to  do  more,  to 
inspire  his  countrymen  to  make  a  better  nation. 

One  day,  some  years  ago,  a  man  who  has 
been  and  always  will  be  my  chief,  whose  life 
has  been  a  steady,  certain  movement  to  the 
highest  station  attainable  in  his  science,  told 
me  in  a  simple  sentence  the  whole  story  of  his 
inspiring  career.  He  said:  "I  have  simply 
made  it  a  rule  to  always  do  more  than  was  ex- 
pected of  me."  I  commend  to  you  this  ex- 
pression of  direct,  simple  wisdom. 

I  have  put  down  as  the  second  object  of  the 
scholar,  knowledge.  That  sounds  very  common- 
place. Who  does  not  know  what  everybody 
goes  to  school  for?  Is  it  not  to  acquire  knowl- 
edge? Yes,  of  course.  Then  I  did  not  need  to 
tell  you  that  at  all.  But  let's  see.  Suppose  I 
have  the  annoying  habit  that  Socrates  had,  of 
questioning  people  about  these  commonplace 
things  which  they  say  they  know  all  about,  and 
I  say  to  you,  "yes,  but  I  am  terribly  ignorant; 
won't  you  please  tell  me  what  knowledge  is?" 
You  say,  "yes,  why  certainly,  knowledge — well 
knowledge  is — why  everybody  knows  what 
knowledge  is;  why  do  you  ask  such  a  simple 
question  as  that  anyway?"  Then  I  say  very 
humbly,  as  Socrates  always  did,  "really,  I  do 
wish  you  would  tell  me  what  knowledge  is;  I 
have   asked  a   great  many  people   and  found 

12 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

them  very  hazy  on  the  subject.  I  assure  you  I 
am  desperately  anxious  to  know  and  you  who 
are  about  to  graduate  from  this  great  Normal 
University  can  surely  enlighten  me."  You, 
feeling  that  the  reputation  of  your  alma  mater 
is  at  stake,  say,  "well,  knowledge  is  what  we 
know,  or  no,  it  is  what  we  are  sure  of."  Then 
I  say,  "oh,  I  am  so  much  obliged  to  you;  now 
I  can  get  on.  Won't  you  please  now  tell  me 
something  you  are  sure  of  so  I  can  have  an  ex- 
ample of  real  knowledge? ' '  And  you  say  ' '  cer- 
tainly, here  is  an  example ;  I  know  that  we  are 
going  to  have  a  League  of  Nations  very  soon;" 
And  I  say,  "well,  well,  how  did  you  find  that 
out?"  You  reply,  "why,  the  newspapers  all 
say  so  and  the  magazines  and  some  of  the  pub- 
lic speakers ;  it  must  be  so."  And  I  say,  "well, 
were  you  in  Las  Vegas  one  day  last  fall  when 
news  came  over  the  wires  that  the  armistice 
was  signed  and  the  war  ended?"  "Yes,  and  we 
all  turned  loose  and  had  a  great  celebration  at 
once.  And  about  the  time  we  got  through  cele- 
brating, another  news  agency  sent  word  over 
the  wires  that  it  was  not  so,  and  sure  enough, 
we  had,  all  over  the  United  States,  celebrated 
something  that  had  not  happened."  Reports, 
then,  must  not  be  accepted  as  facts.  Uncer- 
tainty is  not  knowledge. 

You  want  another  trial.  You  say  "put  your 
hand  in  that  fire  and  it  will  he  burned."  I 
answer,  "thank  you,  I  won't  try  that,  I  have 
done  it  before,  and  I  know  what  happens.     I 

13 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

believe  you  do  know  what  knowledge  is.    We 
will  graduate  you." 

But  let  us  go  a  step  farther  together.  Socra- 
tes was  not  such  an  unmitigated  nuisance  after 
all.  Let  us  examine  a  serious  question.  We 
take  up  a  current  magazine ;  let  us  call  it,  say, 
the  "New  Democracy."  We  read  in  the  first 
editorial  paragraph  "Fiume  is  to  be  made  an  in- 
ternational port  for  ten  years  under  the  League 
of  Nations  and  then  to  revert  to  Italy;  mean- 
time international  assistance  for  the  Jugo-Slavs 
in  the  construction  of  a  new  port  on  the  Adri- 
atic. That,  we  are  told  is  the  agreement  which 
brings  the  Italians  back  to  Paris.  It  is  not  so 
satisfactory  a  solution  as  the  permanent  in- 
ternationalization of  Fiume  would  be,  for  it 
means  a  perpetuation  of  rivalry  in  the  ports  of 
the  Adriatic."  Have  you  gained  some  knowl- 
edge from  this?  I  doubt  it.  The  statements 
set  forth  as  facts  have  since  been  denied;  but 
if  true,  what  of  the  conclusion  drawn?  Is  it  an 
unsatisfactory  solution?  What  do  we  know  of 
the  future  results  of  this  arrangement?  Abso- 
lutely nothing.  Then  this  is  not  knowledge ; 
this  is  simply  opinion.  I  go  on  through  the  pag- 
es; over  twenty-two  editorial  paragraphs;  eve- 
ry one  a  statement  of  a  proposition  followed  by 
an  elaborated  conclusion  designed  to  convince 
you  and  me.  I  find  only  three  or  four  of  the 
twenty-two  based  on  fairly  well  established 
facts.  The  method  of  every  paragraph  is  to 
announce  a  proposition  on  which  to  base  an 
opinion.    The  opinion  is  the  thing  that  is  made 

14 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

prominent ;  that  is  advanced  with  all  the  finali- 
ty of  absolute  knowledge.  There  is  awful  in- 
difference to  facts.  Looking  at  the  title  page 
of  the  magazine  I  find  that  it  does  not  claim 
to  be  a  magazine  of  truth.  It  calls  itself  "a 
magazine  of  opinion."  What  a  vast  proportion 
of  the  things  we  read  in  newspapers,  magazines, 
text  books,  are  simply  opinion  deliberately  in- 
tended to  bias  our  judgment;  sheer  propagan- 
da— a  word  that  is  becoming  hateful  to  us. 
Watch  this  propaganda  system  that  has  become 
so  prevalent.  The  most  vicious  cause  under 
heaven  organizes  its  propaganda,  its  agents,  its 
organs  of  publicity,  and  it  makes  converts  of 
the  unthinking,  of  those  weak  enough  to  be 
moved  by  the  mere  opinion  of  others. 

How  I  should  like  to  see,  instead  of  so  many 
journals  of  opinion,  a  journal  of  fact,  dedi- 
cated to  truth  only ;  to  the  publication  of  facts 
without  comment,  of  truths  that  are  worth 
knowing;  a  presentation  of  facts  displaying 
wisdom  of  selection.  What  a  combination  this 
would  be  and  how  economical  in  these  days  of 
expensive  paper.  How  I  should  like  to  see  such 
a  journal  placed  in  your  hands  and  you  allowed 
to  do  your  own  thinking,  to  form  your  own 
judgments.  I  would  have  great  respect  for 
your  conclusions,  for  you  bring  to  these  facts 
the  power  of  the  educated  mind.  If  humanity 
can  only  get  the  truth,  it  is  always  safe;  but 
the  illiterate  mind  has  no  means  of  getting  at 
the  truth;  hence  the  fertile  field  for  the  mob 
orator,  who  works  solely  upon  the  emotions, 

15 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

the  passions,  the  lower  instincts.  Ignorance  is 
the  one  dangerous  foe  of  democracy.  Ignorance 
is  all  that  is  the  matter  with  Russia.  Knowl- 
edge is  our  rock  of  ages.  To  know  is  to  pos- 
sess absolute  truth.  What  a  spiritual  disci- 
pline science  is !  Only  a  single  purpose  in 
view — to  find  out  truth. 

So  I  beg  of  you  to  hold  yourselves  to  a  very 
stern  definition  of  knowledge.  The  greater 
part  of  what  goes  by  that  name  is  only  opinion ; 
or  only  the  word  of  man,  sometimes  mistaken, 
often  deliberately  false,  handed  on  from  one 
to  another  for  ages  and  blindly  accepted.  Let 
us  stand  for  knowledge  that  means  nothing 
short  of  the  possession  of  incontrovertible 
truth.  I  am  sure  that  is  what  Solomon  meant 
when  he  asked  that  he  be  given  wisdom  and 
knowledge.  It  is  what  we  tried  to  build  into 
the  foundations  of  this  institution  years  ago. 

Let  us  get  the  habit  of  inquiring  very  closely 
into  all  propositions  on  which  important  con- 
clusions depend.  Particularly  be  on  the  look- 
out for  phrases  that  carry  premature  convic- 
tion. "Forward  looking"  has  been  in  high 
favor  of  late  years.  Every  one  must  be  a  "for- 
ward looking  man."  It  sounds  well,  but  I 
should  dissect  all  such  expressions  before  ac- 
cepting them  as  guides  in  life.  I  believe  in  look- 
ing forward,  yet  the  future  can  only  be  known 
at  all  through  the  past.  Man  has  been  slowly 
groping  his  way  for  ages;  looking  forward,  to 
be  sure,  but  guided  in  his  onward  course  by 
past  experience,  by  knowledge  gained.     Cease 

16 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

to  look  back  over  the  slow  gains  of  the  ages; 
cease  to  heed  the  facts  established  by  countless 
experiences  and  we  court  swift  destruction.  All 
improvement  is  the  result  of  the  aspiring  wis- 
dom which  impels  to  seek  the  higher  state, 
and  the  application  of  the  knowledge  we  have 
gained  through  inheritance  and  experience. 
Let  us  look  forward  with  eager  hope,  but  back- 
ward too  with  reverent  quest  for  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  on  which  to  base  every  act  of 
life  in  the  future. 

It  is  a  strange  and  interesting  trait  of  human 
nature  that  it  so  generally  requires  the  stress 
of  dire  necessity  to  impel  it  to  wise  action. 
Fortunate  that  the  mysterious  reserves  of  pow- 
er are  then  available.  It  took  the  shock  of 
war  to  drive  us  to  the  use  of  the  most  vital 
things  of  human  knowledge.  Never  before  had 
we  made  an  appraisement  of  our  human  re- 
sources. For  years  systematic  evaluation  of 
economic  conditions  has  been  customary.  The 
prospective  crops  of  grain  and  live  stock  are  es- 
timated and  reported  months  in  advance,  but 
there  has  been  no  exact  knowledge  of  the  avail- 
able man  power  of  the  country.  No  one  could 
give  much  information  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  children  or  their  prospects  for  reaching 
useful  maturity.  The  unnecessary  loss  of  chil- 
dren was  appalling ;  the  amount  of  preventable 
disease  and  consequent  misery  and  poverty 
among  adults  no  less  so.  Of  a  million  men  in 
the  prime  of  life,  scarcely  half  were  fit  for 
duties  requiring  high  efficiency. 

17 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS 

The  war  brought  these  questions  to  the  front 
and  in  such  an  imperative  way  that  they  at 
once  ceased  to  be  debatable  and  commanded  in- 
stant action.  The  army  called  for  men  of  maxi- 
mum power;  men  free  from  disease,  clear-eyed, 
alert  in  all  their  senses.  Health  was  prompt- 
ly made  obligatory.  Army  traditions  of  long 
standing  were  swept  away.  The  moral  code 
of  the  soldier  became  higher  than  that  of  the 
college  student  of  past  years.  Army  life  was 
freer  from  vice  than  civilian  life.  Eagerly  our 
young  men  obeyed  the  call  to  physical  and 
moral  cleanliness.  It  became  the  pride  of  the 
soldier.  It  seems  a  bit  strange  that  it  was  not 
to  the  colleges  and  universities  that  our  young 
men  went  to  learn  and  prize  the  highest  attri- 
butes of  manhood,  but  to  the  training  camp. 
What  university  executive  will  take  the  lead  in 
demanding  that  student  life  shall  be  as  clean 
as  soldier  life  is  now  required  to  be? 

The  prosepect  of  huge  losses  of  the  male  pop- 
ulation turned  attention  to  the  saving  of  infant 
life  and  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other,  the  physical  and  mental  examination  of 
the  children  was  started.  As  a  result,  child- 
hood is  in  a  fair  way  to  get  a  square  deal.  The 
right  of  the  child  to  a  clean  ancestry,  to  a 
wholesome  birth,  to  protection  from  infection, 
to  freedom  from  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
contamination  during  the  period  of  helpless- 
ness, to  sanitary  food  and  clothing  and  shelter, 
and  to  education  is  a  mandate  of  our  time.  The 
state  that  lacks  child  conservation  laws  will 

18 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

soon  be  considered  uncivilized.  Banish  the  han- 
dicaps of  childhood — bad  heredity,  infections, 
mal-nutrition,  ignorance  and  the  fight  against 
poverty  and  crime  is  won. 

Women  gained  in  four  years  what  they  have 
been  struggling  centuries  to  obtain.  As  the 
women  of  the  country  silently  stepped  into 
place  in  every  line  of  activity,  short  of  actual 
battle,  and  with  marvelous  devotion  and  un- 
suspected endurance  stood  up  to  the  hardest 
tasks,  it  became  obvious  that  here  was  a  line 
of  defense  not  to  be  ignoied.  In  every  sense 
they  were  fighters.  They  fought  to  send  sub- 
sistence to  the  front.  They  fought  disease.  They 
fought  for  the  lives  of  the  wounded.  They  toiled 
with  needle  and  sewing  machine  until  they 
were  ready  to  drop,  but  none  ever  fell.  If 
called  to  danger  they  faced  it  boldly,  for  the 
risk  of  life  is  no  new  experience  to  them 
Courageous,  determined,  quick-witted — they 
were  from  the  first  like  veterans  in  the  prompt- 
ness and  precision  with  which  they  went  to 
their  tasks.  They  did  not  wait  to  be  mobilized. 
"Drives"  were  not  necessary  to  spur  them  to 
action.  They  reached  to  the  uttermost  limits 
of  the  war.  Not  a  returning  soldier  but  testi- 
fies that  whether  in  camp  or  cantonment,  on 
land  or  sea  or  in  the  air,  in  front  line  trenches 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  shadows,  he  was  never 
beyond  the  reach  of  what  women  were  doing 
for  him.  In  the  fires  of  this  conflict  men's 
souls  have  been  purged  and  the  New  Chivalry 
is  born.     Count  this  among  the  supreme  gains. 

19 


BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  henceforth  no  civilized 
country  will  underrate  the  worth  of  its  women 
in  public  affairs,  and  even  in  war  their  place 
will  be  as  important,  as  honorable,  as  that  of 
the  men. 

My  young  friends,  the  goal  of  life  has  not 
changed  in  four  years,  nor  in  twenty  years, 
nor  in  three  thousand,  nor  ever  can  it  change. 
"Give  me  now  wisdom  and  knowledge."  This, 
through  all  the  ages  has  been  the  cry  of  the  real 
student.  So  accustomed  are  we  to  the  words 
that  they  seem  commonplace,  but  they  embrace 
all  that  is  worth  striving  for.  Just  so  long  as 
man  continues  to  long  for  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge will  we  go  onward.  For  wisdom  is  that 
sublime  impulse  to  high  endeavor,  to  noble  liv- 
ing; and  knowledge  is  the  everlasting  founda- 
tion on  which  we  may  build  with  absolute  se- 
curity. Given  these  two  endowments  and  life 
becomes  a  certainty — a  period  of  controlled 
purposeful  action,  of  creative  achievement,  of 
destiny  made  real  through  self  determination 
in  harmony  with  Infinite  Mind. 

I  find  myself  still  holding  the  thesis  that  ed- 
ucation means  evolution,  and  through  evolution 
freedom.  I  care  less  and  less  for  the  words 
"teaching"  and  "instructing"  for  they  imply 
the  imposition  of  my  thought,  my  view,  upon 
others.  I  care  more  and  more  for  "education." 
It  implies,  drawing  out,  unfolding,  developing 
what  is  in  you.  You  have  no  right  to  make 
another  accept  what  you  think,  what  you  be- 
lieve.    But  you  have  the  sublime  privilege  of 

20 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

cultivating  mind  and  character  and  of  setting 
free  the  human  spirit.  And  a  supreme  duty  is 
to  aid  in  bringing  that  freedom  of  the  individ- 
ual into  the  larger  freedom  of  association  with 
others.  Only  as  the  freedom  of  self  is  subordi- 
nated to  the  freedom  of  society  is  progress 
made  toward  democracy.  We  have  a  country 
of  free  institutions,  but  they  can  only  exist 
and  we  enjoy  them  through  the  scrupulous  ob- 
servance by  each  one  of  us  of  the  crystalized 
agreements  that  we  have  entered  into  which  we 
call  law  and  order.  This  is  freedom  through 
discipline. 

From  boyhood  I  have  lived  and  worked  a- 
mong  my  neighbors.  I  have  always  lived  under 
law.  To  my  knowledge  I  have  never  broken 
a  law.  I  am  sure  I  never  have  an  impulse  to 
break  one.  Yet  I  feel  that  no  human  being 
ever  lived  a  more  independent  life.  I  have  sim- 
ply been  privileged  to  live  in  a  country  of  lim- 
itless opportunities,  the  chief  of  all  being  the 
opportunity  to  achieve  my  absolute  freedom 
through  co-operation  with  my  fellow  men.  I 
trust  that  all  who  come  from  foreign  lands  to 
live  among  us  may  be  made  clearly  acquainted 
with  this  spirit  of  our  laws ;  that  the  individual 
is  absolutely  free  if  he  subordinates  the  desires 
of  self  to  the  good  of  all.  If  they  think  other- 
wise they  must  be  sternly  told  to  go  elsewhere. 

Every  activity  in  which  we  have  co-operated 
in  this  last  great  crisis  has  been  a  lesson^  in 
freedom  through  mutual  aid — has  been  an  im- 
pulse toward  true  Democracy.    As  the  meaning 

21 


BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS 

of  that  word  becomes  clear — as  the  ideal  there- 
in contained  becomes  the  possession  of  all  the 
people — we  approach  the  realization  of  man's 
fondest  dream.  In  Democracy,  every  concep- 
tion of  freedom,  every  aspiration  of  which  the 
human  spirit  is  capable,  is  attainable.  Not  so- 
cial Democracy — just  plain  American  Democ- 
racy, the  kind  that  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the 
American  people  want  and  are  going  to  have. 
If  any  prefer  anarchy,  syndicalism,  Bolshevism 
or  any  other  brand  of  social  and  political  ter- 
rorism, let  them  live  where  those  insanities 
breed.  In  Europe  one  may  have  a  large  choice. 
There  may  be  no  simon-pure  Prussianism  left, 
but  Bolshevism  will  answer  the  same  purpose. 
Kaiserism  was  organized,  efficient  despotism. 
Bolshevism  is  despotism  minus  efficiency, 
equally  criminal — headed  toward  the  same  end, 
the  bondage  of  the  many  to  the  will  of  the 
vicious  few. 

Members  of  the  Class  of  1919  ;  I  greatly  prize 
this  opportunity  to  come  to  you  with  the  first 
words  of  your  commencement  week.  It  was  a 
beautiful  courtesy  of  your  President  to  invite 
me  to  do  this.  Not  mine  alone  are  these  words 
of  greeting.  All  who  have  had  to  do  with  this 
institution  since  its  birth  are  here  with  their 
benediction  now.  The  years  have  gone,  leaving 
gentle  memories  of  lives  that  endeared  this 
place  to  us  and  time  has  brought  us  into  wider 
horizons.  We  who  have  spent  some  years  as 
builders  in  this  state  look  upon  scenes  like  this 
with  satisfaction  that  is  beyond  words.     This 

22 


THE  STUDENT'S  GOAL 

is  the  vision  that  we  had.  You,  the  never  end- 
ing stream  of  youth,  coming  on  from  year  to 
year  to  keep  life  an  eternal  morning;  going 
out  into  our  country,  among  our  people  to 
serve  them.  There  is  your  supreme  happiness — 
in  service.  We  are  going  to  confer  upon  you 
this  week  a  distinguished  honor  and  a  serious 
responsibility.  This  great  institution  is  going 
to  proclaim  you  its  standard  bearers.  This 
great  state  is  going  to  vouch  for  you  with  all 
the  authority  it  has.  We,  all  the  people,  are 
going  to  back  you  up  in  your  life  work,  just 
so  long  as  you  are  not  afraid  to  choose  the 
hard  road. 

What  a  marvelous  development  this  is !  We 
provide  for  our  youth  the  best  opportunities 
for  self  development  that  can  be  afforded.  If 
they  are  faithful  and  courageous,  if  they  stand 
the  test  as  to  character  and  knowledge  and  dis- 
cretion, we  vouch  for  them  for  life.  It  is  an 
expression  of  supreme  trust  in  our  youth ;  and 
who  shall  say  that  our  faith  has  ever  been  mis- 
placed? We  have  called  them  to  the  everyday 
duties  of  life  and  they  have  never  disappointed 
us.  We  summoned  them  to  battle  that  simple 
justice  "and  righteousness  and  decency  should 
prevail  among  men,  and  they  responded  with 
their  lives.  Sixteen  thousand  of  New  Mexico's 
young  men  answered  that  call,  four  hundred 
of  whom  will  return  to  us  only  in  loving  mem- 
ory. An  uncounted  host  of  young  women  si- 
lently formed  a  second  line  of  defense  and  for- 
got weariness,  forgot  the  sweet  joys  of  youth, 

23 


BACCALAUREATE  ADDRESS 

to  toil  in  the  great  service,  to  help,  to  help  as 
only  women  can,  in  the  supreme  tests  and  sac- 
rifices of  life. 

And  so  we  can  trust  and  vouch  for  our 
youth.  In  you,  members  of  this  class,  we  salute 
the  youth  of  our  land — those  who  knew  no 
holding  back  in  the  great  crisis;  those  who 
made  sacred  to  us  the  soil  of  distant  lands 
and  the  depths  of  the  sea  where  their  young 
bodies  rest ;  and  all  of  you  who  are  now  going 
into  the  no  less  serious  work  of  the  coming 
years  with  the  same  spirit  of  courageous  en- 
deavor. We  know  you,  we  respect  you,  we 
trust  you.  We  place  upon  you  vast  responsi- 
bility and  you  will  justify  our  faith. 


24 


■ 


IHEG\0NM-U 


MWFAWUft 


BR^t 


